End of an Era

The Ultimate brand is and was amazing. If not for the Ultimate brand comics and entertainment would not be where it is today.

It was years since I bought a comic book. I still loved good art but just didn't care about comic books any more. Not after all the Image failures and 50 variant covers, which we all bought. I didn't even read the books.

But time passes and we all grow older, and I still had friends in the biz and others that still would buy comic books. Fortunately I began to make good money and had tons to spare. A few close friends would tell me, "have you read any comics lately?" or "Have you seen what they're doing in the books?" To be honest I could care less. But after months of pestering and then my dear friend Ethan, lent me the Ultimates first trade. I didn't even know what a trade was. I didn't realize that they where telling stories that spanned 5 or 6 issues and where complete stories.

I read Ultimates and was very surprised. It was good. The art was great. And for the first time I actually read the book all the way through and like the story. I was on my way to a week-end trip to visit my aunt in San Diego for some reason. On the way I decided to stop at a comic book store. I picked up Rising Stars first trade and the frist 3 trades of Ultimate Spider-man. I was hooked. By the time I got back from our trip, I was back in the comic book frame of mind.

My girlfriend found a great store that had just opened down the street from her office and she was picking up comics every Wednesday. She told me that this store was actually really cool and the owner took the time to help her out. That store was Earth 2, still the greatest comic book store around, and she said I had to visit them. Thinking that sure, they were nice because you're a hot girl in a store full of geeks, but they won't be nice to me. But I went. To make a long story short, I walked out of there with two short boxes and a $500 tab! Since then, I've been a weekly reader.

The many different Ultimate titles have had their good and their bad, but if not for them I and many others wouldn't have gotten in or back into comics. The new breed of writers and stellar art pushed the medium forward and layed the foundation for all the movies that you're seeing today.

I don't know what the Ultimate brand will look like but I am sad to see it shrink. But like all things, it has served its purpuse. I will miss these books but look forward to the next generation.